The presence of significant quantities of H.sub.2 S and CO.sub.2 in various "sour" industrial gaseous streams poses a persistent problem. Although various procedures have been developed to remove and recover these contaminants, most such processes are deficient, for a variety of reasons.
In one cyclic method currently attracting attention, the sour gas is contacted, preferably with a solvent-reactant system which comprises a regenerable reactant, to produce solid free sulfur which is recovered either prior to or subsequent to regeneration. Suitable reactant materials include polyvalent metallic ions, such as iron, vanadium, copper, manganese, and nickel, and include polyvalent metal chelates. Preferred reactants are coordination complexes in which the polyvalent metals form chelates with specified organic acids.
A problem associated with such processes is that the solid sulfur produced, if special measures are not taken, may be poor quality, i.e., it may be finely divided and difficult to separate from the aqueous reactant solution. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,155 (Blytas and Diaz) details a process of the type described in which specified alcohols are employed to improve sulfur quality. The invention also seeks to overcome this problem, and to provide an efficient and economic process for H.sub.2 S removal.